Page 13 of Unchained

Maybe I am. Maybe the idea of never seeing Emberly again is pissing me the fuck off. For a moment, I contemplated dragging her back inside and locking her in here with us, but I couldn’t fucking do it. She’s too damn good. So fucking sweet. And I didn’t want to taint her world with my dirty. I don’t want to put her in danger.

“Nothing.” I close out my screen, needing to put it to rest. Needing to quit staring at her headshot and forget the girl ever existed. I need to get my mind on straight and figure out how to get us out of this mess. Diego still hasn’t responded to my text, but he did say he’d need a week to get us everything we needed.

A week seems like a fucking eternity when the entire state is after my ass. And I’m guessing Rodriguez is now on the hunt for his runaway wife and Kai. Haven’t seen anything in the news on them, so that means he hasn’t gone to the police and reported them missing. But that isn’t surprising. He doesn’t exactly want the cops snooping through his shit and peering in closer, because they’ll come up finding a shit ton of his dirty secrets.

“You like her, don’t you?” Her question has my shoulders tensing. Even if I did like her, it doesn’t change jack shit about my situation and the cold hard truth.

“Barely know the girl,” I grunt, shaking my head. “And we won’t be seeing her again.” My stomach rejects that reality the moment the words leave my mouth.

“You don’t have to know her well to know she’s kind and has a good heart. Plus, she’s pretty.”

“What’s your point?” I grit, pissed that we’re even having this conversation. Don’t need the reminder of how damn perfect the girl is.

“I just always wanted you to be happy, Trev. I hated what Dad did, how he treated you. And I’d always wished you’d get to rise out from under it all and get the future you deserve. I’m sorry I married Rodriguez. I should’ve listened to you. I was so blinded by love and the money and all his false promises that I didn’t want to believe you. I was a single mom wanting to be saved, and the fact that he opened his arms to Kai was huge for me, but I should’ve trusted my brother. I’m so sorry.”

Can’t fault her for falling for the guy. He’s the king of manipulation. I fell for lie after lie, believed he was a damn god before I learned the truth.

“Like I said, sis, if it weren’t for me, you never would’ve met him. We wouldn’t be running for our lives. So there’s nothing you need to be apologizing for.”

She looks toward her son who’s quietly reading by the window, looking up and staring out it every so often. I think he’s waiting for Emberly to come back. I’m wishing she would too. But I know she won’t. Again, there’s a discomfort in my chest that has me out of my seat and pacing again.

CHAPTER 13

Emberly

Asound has me jolting awake and darting up in bed. My ears tune in as my eyes struggle to adjust in the dark. It was probably just one of my neighbors who lives above me dropping something on the ground. The joy of living on the bottom floor is that you hear every footstep and bang coming from above. But when a dark figure appears in my bedroom doorway, nearly taking up the entire space, my assumption is proven wrong.

I scramble for my mace on my nightstand, accidentally knocking it on the ground in my panic. The scream hasn’t left my body yet. It’s frozen in my fear. My mind rushes with too many thoughts: the mace is on the ground, my phone is plugged into the wall, he might have a gun, I should be screaming, why am I not screaming for help, should I climb down and get the mace or will he shoot me, why am I not screaming.

“I tried to stay away.” The deep voice filters through the whirring rush of thoughts, and the panic starts to settle. Relief washing in slowly. Though, I shouldn’t be relieved that an escaped convict has broken into my apartment in the middle of the night and is stalking toward me.

“Tried to convince myself to let you go. But your pretty ass has infected my system. I can’t get you out of my fucking head. Can’t stop thinking of the sexy sounds you made when you were coming on my tongue. The way your sweet little cunt tasted is haunting my every thought.”

He stops at the base of my bed, and I can hear how hard he’s breathing. Every heavy intake of air is dragging over my nerves and stirring the butterflies in my stomach. “

My cock won’t settle the fuck down. So now, you’re going to have to fix my problem.”

He climbs onto my bed and his huge frame crowds my space. In one quick tug, he pulls me toward him. My back flops onto the mattress and I’m now trapped beneath him, feeling his hard shaft pressing against my leg.

“I’m going to fuck you out of my system, little girl. I’m going to work this fucking need that’s consuming every part of me so I can finally move on with my life and get my head on straight.”

My body tenses, his words cutting like glass. He only came here for sex. He only came to use my body to satisfy his needs. He didn’t come because he was desperate to see me again. He didn’t rush here in the middle of the night because he had this insane need to get to know me better or couldn’t stand the thought of walking away from me. He’s only here because he wants to fuck me. Well, fuck that.

I lean up onto my forearms as the crushing disappointment transforms into rage.

“No,” I seethe. “I will not let you fuck me.”

Here, I spent the entire day fighting the urge to go back to the house and see him again. Not because I needed to ride his dick or couldn’t wait for him to be on his knees again, but because I feel this crazy connection to him. There’s this indescribable pull, this longing to get to know him better. I wanted to spend time with him and his family and learn more about them. And all he wants to do is get off.

“If you want to fuck something, go fuck your hand because I’m not some hole to satisfy whatever itch you have.”

I can’t see his features in the dark, but I can hear his low, heavy breathing growing erratic and his shoulders growing stiffer. It probably wasn’t a good idea to smart off at the man. I have no idea what he’s truly capable of. Whether he’s guilty of killing someone or not, doing time behind bars had to have its effect.

He lets out a low rumbly sound and the air inside my lungs gets trapped.

“In all the years I was locked inside, criminals my size and strength, men who’d committed the heinous crimes they were convicted of, never once dared to cross a fucking line with me. But your sexy little ass is as brazen as they come. You should be scared, little girl.”

“Why? All I have to do is make one phone call and you’ll be back in prison.”